I broke my wipers, can anyone help me? 1997 LeSabre

[Dave S.]

I live in mid Michigan and gets quite cold and snowy this time of year. The other day, I went out to start my 97' Lesabre which had a couple of inches of snow on it. After getting it started, I decided to move it, I did not realize that my wipers were frozen to the window (yes, I know, I should have checked them) I turned them on and heard a couple of pops, but the wipers did not move. I hurried out to try and free them up, but it was too late. When I pulled on them, they moved freely back and forth but they don't move on their own anymore. I can still hear the motor humming when I activate the switch though. I have no idea what has gone wrong other than the fact that I am a moron for not checking them first.

Does anyone know what the problem could be? I would really appreciate any help.

 

[ryenie]

The linkage has popped off of the motor, the motor needs to be hooked back up to the linkage, it can be a little tricky as there's not a whole lot of room, but it can be done from home with a pair of vice grips, or channel locks. You just need to make sure you don't flatten the round dome part on the linkage or it can keep the linkage from seating itself all the way and pop back off.

 

[FatherThyme]

I just replaced my wiper motor, and it took about 4 hours. It might be as simple of a fix as re-tightening the nut on the motor; 13mm wrench. Or maybe something broke in the wiper transmission and you'll have to weld it or replace it. To get into the wiper motor compartment, I did the following:

1. Remove both wiper blade arms with 13 mm socket.
2. Remove plastic cover at bottom of windshield, by popping off plastic fittings. Be careful, the windshield fluid line is attached to it, so just move it aside slightly.
3. Remove a steel plate that covers the motor compartment with 10mm socket.

Now you should be able to see inside, run the wipers, and see what is wrong. You can tighten the nut on the motor at this point, if that is all that is wrong. If you have to remove the transmission and/or motor, it's a bear to figure out how to remove. Very tight space.

 

[NFortin198]

Had the same thing happen on my Century, and all I had to do was tighten up on the nut that holds the wipers on. To see if this is the case with your vehicle, pop off the covers to the nuts holding the wiper arms on, turn on the wipers then watch the shafts. If they are moving but the arms are not, shut them off then tighten them up. The grooves or splines that the arms lock onto are not very deep and can easily strip out. I got them working long enough to wait for a good day to replace the arms, but you do need to clean the splines/grooves out on the shaft.

 

[Dave S.]

Thanks everyone for the input. My wiper arms don't bolt down, they just slide onto the posts and then you slide a little lock and they're on.

The problem turned out to be the linkage had popped apart where the main linkage connects to the linkage on the wiper arms. They work now but you can tell the motor has been stressed as they don't move as fast and they don't make that one last pass before going under the hood when you turn them off.